Whether you need something to pick up your spirits or make ghosts float, the hair-raising spookiness of this week’s TechnoRetro Dads will possess you with urges for cereal and cartoons, snack cakes and TV shows, toys, games, and even more canned laughter. Cover your eyes and plug in your ear buds, EarBuds, and the ‘Dads will heighten your October outlook with fun and frights (and few insights) this morning or tonight.

In the NEWS

Star Wars is all over the news this week and it looks like TechnoRetro Dads are the last to cover it when it’s actually new. Besides Star Wars Reads Month, the ‘Dads speculate on rumors surrounding The Mandalorian, a live-action series helmed by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s part in the series (of course, since recording this episode, much more information has been forthcoming). But not all the news is old Star Wars news. Oh, no! EarBud T-Bird provides even older news for the ‘Dads with 3500 year-old ingredients for pumpkin spice (or is it purple-yam pie spice?). Now that’s news!

We Love Our Cereal…

…and the Roving Spoonster loves fruity-shaped Trix coming back some twenty years after being discontinued, JediShua loves looking for Elvira cereal by Funko, and shazbazzar loves getting visions of ghosts from his past upon seeing a picture of a box of OJ cereal.

October Oddity: Pop-Culture Ghosts

Although their presence is sensed throughout the year, our cultural fascination with ghosts only increases during the month of October. People love getting spooked by the idea of discorporate beings floating around to advise, prank, or otherwise involve themselves in the daily lives of the living. JediShua and shazbazzar remember some pop-culture ghosts from their childhood. Strangely, the ghosts of Poltergeist and Ob-Wan from The Empire Strikes Back didn’t jump out at them. It’s at times like these when there’s something strange in TechnoRetro minds that you just ask yourself, “Who am I gonna call?”

TechnoRetro Arcade

In 1988, Capcom released the third arcade game in the Ghosts ’n Goblins series of games, Ghouls ’n Ghosts. Arthur the knight must once again rescue his sweetheart Princess Prin Prin from the clutches of ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and other inhabitants of the Great Demon World Village. This time, Arthur’s abilities increase as do the opponents who attack him from the underworld and the damage they can inflict if he doesn’t DUCK!

Saturday Mornings

When the world outside your window is just a bit too normal on a Saturday morning, you could embrace the paranormal with The Real Ghostbusters, the animated version of the characters introduced in the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. Egon, Venkman, Ray, and Winston are joined by Slimer and a host of other ghosts in every episode of The Real Ghostbusters were gleefully welcomed to the televisions of kids in the mid-eighties to early-nineties.

Toys in the Attic

Not only did The Real Ghostbusters find their place on the small screen during this time, but they graced the pegs and shelves of toy stores and toy boxes in kids’ rooms everywhere. Like many movies and TV shows of the time (Star Wars, Transformers, G.I. Joe), The Real Ghostbusters seized the opportunity to turn plastic ghosts into profits with Kenner figures that enabled kids to continue the adventures of Slimer, Ray, Winston, Peter, and Egon as they interact with the paranormal in an effort to protect the public (for a fee, of course).

Feedback

EarBuds submit questions, ideas, and memories through electronic-M, Twitter, and Discord about a variety of techno and retro topics.

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds! Don’t let the ghosts of the ‘70s and ‘80s fade from your memory by missing an episode of TechnoRetro Dads — subscribe on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, get TechnoRetro merch at TeePublic, and join discussions on Discord about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us your mp3dback via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.